Cigarette-machine feed



June 24, 1930. Q J, FUSE 1,765,830

'CIGARETTE MACHINE FEED Filed April 4- 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 :Dfi Q6 5o F1 g. 3 J l 57 ./.f 'i z 5 8 5555 57 O if 2f J9 u yl 0/ 3c? K lNvENT zw f m y BY Wy MW ATTORNEY Patented June 24, 1930 UNITED sTATEs PATENT OFFICE CHRISTIAN J'. FUSE, 0F BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO AMERICAN MACHINE FOUNDBY COMPANY, .A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY CIGARETTE-MACHINE FEED Application -Jed April 4, 1928. Serial No. 267,460.

This inventionrrelates to a cigarette'machine tobacco feed, its main object being to provide an improved machine of this type which is compact, which will feed the tobacco uniformly, and which is adaptable to properly feed tobaccos difering considerably in condition and variety. Hitherto the feed drum and the means for regulatingv the amount of tobacco fed by the feed drum, have been driven from a common drive-shaft by belts or chains, resulting in slippage in the case of the belts and back-lash in the case vof the chain drive. It has been found that this 'slippage or back-lash results in uneven feeding of the tobacco, due to lack of uniformity between the driving of the feed drum and the regulating means, and it is an object of the invention to remedy this defect.

In previous machines of this type, the picker rolls have been driven from the same shaft as the feed drum and other feed regulating mechanism of the machine. It has been found desirable to vary the relative speed ofthe picker rolls andthe feed drum in order to obtain more uniform results with tobaccos varying in condition or variety. It has also been found that varying the speed of the picker roll with respect to the feed drum makes it possible to change the density of the tobacco in the cigarette rod, and thus obtain a cigarette having .the proper feel. By feel is meant the resistance to pressure resulting from the density of the tobacco confined in the rod. It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide an independent drive for the picker rolls, by which the speed of the picker rolls may be adjusted with respect to that of the 4 feed drum and feed regulating mechanism of the machine.

, Hitherto it has been found necessary to provide a winnowin device extending a considerable distance in front of the feeding machine, receiving the tobacco thrown from the side of the feed drum. It has been discovered that a much more compact machine may be produced without sacrificing eiiiciency by rebounding the tobacco thrown from the feed drum on a wall close to Said drum, to deliver the winnowed tobacco underneath the drum. It is another object of the invention to produce a more compact machine than heretofore known embodying this discovery.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is an elevation of one side of the tobacco hopper, showing the main drive;

Fig. 2 is an elevation of the opposite side of the tobacco hop er, showing the drives for the winnower, an and conve or screw;

Fig. 3 is a front elevation of t e tobacco feed;

Fig. 4 is a sectional side elevation of the tobacco feedtaken on line 4-4 of Fig. 3,'

and showing the manner of feeding the tobacco; and

Fig. 5 is a partial side elevation of the lower part of the tobacco feed modified for single picking, the parts shown in Fig. 4 for the re-plcking of the tobacco being omitted.

In carrying the invention into effect, there is provided a feed drum for forwarding tobacco from a mass in 'a hopper or other suitable receptacle, and means are provided for regulating the amount of tobacco forwarded by said drum, together with Worm gearing driving said drum and said regulating 'means There is further provided picking mechanism acting on the tobacco forwarded by said drum, and means independent of said gearing for driving said mechanism. In the best constructions also, there is provided a winnowing device operatin to deliver winnowed tobacco underneat the drum. In the best constructions contemplated, this winnowing device consists of a Wall and means for throwing tobacco against the wall to cause its lighter parts to slide down the wall and to cause its heavier parts to rebound from the wall and thereby become separated from the lighter parts. The best constructions also include a re-picker acting on the tobacco after it is winnowed.

The means above referred to may be widely varied in construction within the scope of the claims, for the particular machine selected to illustrate the invention is but one of many possible embodiments of thesame. The invention, therefore, is not to be restricted to the precise details of structure shown and described.

Referring to the drawings, the tobacco feed consists of a hopper l() which is held Vtogether by locks 11 and has an inclined top-cover 12 attached to the side walls by hinges 13, and which contains the various feeding and picker devices for disentangling the shredded tobacco used for making cigarettes. These devices include a belt 14 which presses the mass of tobacco againsta feed drum 15, .a regulating drum 16 which sweeps the excess tobacco ofl'l the feed drum, thesey elements together constituting the means for regulating the amount of tobacco' forwarded by the feed drum, a fan 17 which blows out the dust and brushes off clinging shreds of tobacco on the regulating drum, a comb 18 which compacts the tobacco left by the regulating drum 16 on the feed drum 15, a picker roll 19 Awhich picks off and throws the tobacco from the feed drum 15 against a glass Wall 20, a trough 21 which catches the heavy parts of the tobacco rebounding from the wall 20, and a re-picker comprising re-picker drum 22 and re- )icker roll 23, Awhich re-pick the tobacco be ore its delivery to the cigarette machine.

The hopper 10 is mounted between the end-frames 24 and 25, which are held together by the rods 26, and are supported by the pedestals 27. The frames 24 and 25 support a shaft 28, which carries a beltpulley 29 carrying the pressure belt 14, which also runs over a pulley 30 on shaft 31 located in suitable bearings in the hopper. This belt serves to press the tobacco in the hopper against the feed drum.

A. shaft 28, within a housing 32 which is attached to a lower worm-housing 33 carried by the end frame 24, has a worm wheel 34 in mesh with a worm 35 on a drive shaft 36, which is supported in worm-housing 33 and in a sleeve 37 attached to a frame 24. The sleeve 37 terminates in an upper wormhousing 38, to which is fastened a worm wheel-housing 39. The lower overhanging part of frame 24, together with housing 33, carries a shaft 40 having a worm 41 in engagement with a worm wheel 42 on the inclined drive-shaft 36, and thereby drives the shaft 36 from the shaft 40, which is in turn driven by the motor-driven chain 43 running over sprocket 44 on the shaft 40. The drum 15 is mounted on a shaft 45, located in bearings in the frames 24 and 25, and drivenfrom the shaft 36 by the Worm 46 in the housing 47. The overhanging end of the shaft 45 is provided with a worm ywheel 48 in a housing 49 attached to the sleeve 37, this wheel being in mesh with the worm 46, thereby driving the shaft 45.

It will be noted that the feed drum, the

lating drum 16, when the feed drum has turned into engagement with them. The regulating drum 16 is mounted on a shaft 50, which is supported'in adjustably mounted bearings 51 and 52, the former being attached to the frame 24,*and the latter to the frame 25. The shaft 50 is driven by a worm 53 on the shaft 36, the worm being located in the housing 38 and in mesh with a worm wheel 54 in the housing 39, the worm wheel 54 being mounted on the shaft 50.

Tobacco shreds protruding from the drum 16 are removed by the fan 17, which is aflixed to a shaft 55 held in eccentrically mounted bushings 56 located in the end frames 24 and 25. By loosening set-screws 57, the bushings 56 can be turned, thereby adjusting the distance of the fan from the drum 16. The fan is operated by a pulley 58 on the shaft 55, connected with a pulley 59 on the shaft 60 by va belt 61. Shaft 60, which carries the picker roll 19 and a pickel.' roll pulley 62, is located in adjustable bearings 63 and 64 on `the frames 24 and 25, and is driven by a motor 65 fastened to the under side of the frame 25, its step-pulley 66 being connected with a step-pulley 67 on shaft 60 by means of a belt 68. The driving means for the picker roll 19 and repicker roll 23 is, therefore, entirely independent of the worm drive for the feed drum and feed regulating means 14 and 16.

Accordingly, the speed of the picker mechanism can be varied with respect to the feed and feed regulating mechanism by merely placing the belt 68 on different steps of the step-pulleys 66v and 67, or by varyingA the speed of the motor 65.

A' drawer 69 placed in the hopper 10, un-

derneath the drum 16, catches any tobacco rgmnants not fully cleaned away by the fan 1 The tobacco remaining on the feed drum 15, after emerging from contact with the regulating drum 16, is pressed against the drum by the teeth of the comb 18, which project into the spaces between the pins of drum 15. Comb 18 is attached to shaft 70, which is supported by frames 24 and 25, and on which is mounted the lever 71 having the spring 72 for keeping the comb in tension.

Upon being taken from drum 15 by the pins of picker roll 19 on shaft 60, the totrough 21 spaced away from the wall, while lower front wall of the tobacco magazine,`

and which is held by the two adjustable angle-pieces 73. An adjustable wall 74, mounted close to pickel' roll 19, prevents the tobacco from being thrown in an upward direction. The heavy parts of the tobacco such as the stems and foreign matter rebounding from wall 20 are caught by the the tobacco shreds slide down the wall and are delivered underneath the feed drum and on the top of the re-picker drum 22, which is set close to the lower end of the wall 20. 'lhe wall 20, as herein arranged, constitutes the' winnowing device which, because it is close to the feed drum and delivers the winnowed tobacco-underneath the drum, makes possible a very compact machine, in which no additional floor space is required on account of the winnowing device.

AThe trough-21, which is supported below and close to the drum between the bearings 74 on which it is rotatable so that its angular position can be adjusted to the trajectory of the heavy parts of the tobacco, terminates in a chute 75 protruding from the side of the hopper 10. The heavy parts of the tobacco in the trough are propelled into the chute 75 by a conveyor screw 76, which is mounted in the bearings 74 and driven by a pulley 77 on the shaft 78 of the screw, this pulley being connected by a belt 79 with the pulley 80 on the shaft 45.

The tobacco droppingon the re-picker drum 22 is subjected to re-picking to break up the tobacco shreds and to provide the extra picking Afound desirable for certain types of tobacco. The re-picker drum 22 and its associated repicker roll 23 are supported by bearing brackets 81 and 82 attached to the under sides of the frames 24 and 25. The re-picker drum 22 is partly surrounded by a concave guide 83 attached to the bearing brackets 81 and 82, while the 're-picker roll 23 is provided with the guide wallv84 fastened to the same brackets, both guide elements serving to guide all the descending winnowed tobacco into the re-picking device. The re-picker drum 22 is slowly driven by the shaft 45, the sprocket 85 on its shaft 86 being connected by a chain 87 with a sprocket 88 on theshaft 45. The. shaft 89 of the re-picker roll 23, for the purpose of adjustment, is eccentrieally mounted in the bushings 90, and is provided with a pulley 91 which is connected by a belt 92 with the swiftly rotating pulley 62 on theshaft 60.

A tobacco delivery chute 93, placed below the rolls 22 and 23, is clam'ped between screws 94, located in brackets 81 and 82.

Secured to the shaft 86 is a starwheel 95,'

which engages with a roller 96 of a lever 97 mounted on a shaft S18-supported -in brackets 81 and 82. On the shaft 98 is mounted a lever 99, arranged in such a manner ;as to knock against the rear wall of chute 93 every time the roller 96 is lifted by starwheel 95, thereby setting the chute into vibration and preventing accumulation of tobacco in the same. A spring 100 pulls the roller 96 back into'engaging position with starwheel 95, after it has been raised by one of the points of the latter.

On the side of the hopper 10, shown in Fig. l, is mounted a frame 101 which, in threaded bushings 102 carries the threaded shafts 103 projecting into the magazine '10 and rotatably attached to the division wall 104 in said magazine. On the bushings 102 are mounted sprockets 105, which are connected by' a chain 106 with a sprocket 107 ou a shaft 108 having a handwheel 109. An idler 110 on an arm 111 serves to adjust the tightness of the chain 106. By turning the handwheel 109, the partition 104 can be moved forward and back, thereby adjusting the breadth of the tobacco stream issuing from the delivery chute 93 and thus controlling the amount of tobacco deposited 118 held in engaging position with starwheel 119 on shaft 45 by the spring 120.

The pressure belt 14 is supported by the bottom plate 121 and can be tightened by means of screws 122 located in frames 24 and 25, these screws carrying the blocks 123 which support the idler 124. Between belt 14 and drum 15, a guard-plate 125 is placed extending from frame 24 to frame 25, to protect the belt from damage by the pins of drum 15.

What is claimed is:

1. Ina cigarette machine feed, the combination with a feed drum, of means for regulating the amount of tobacco forwarded by said drum, worm gearing driving said drum and said regulating means, picking mechanism acting on tobacco forwarded by said drum, and means independent of said gearing for driving said mechanism.

2. In a cigarette machine feed, the combination with a feed drum, of means for regulating the amount of tobacco forwarded by said drum, worm gearing driving said drum and said regulating means, p1eking mechanism acting on tobacco forwarded by said drum, means independent of said gearing for driving said mechanism, and a win! 3. In a cigarette machine feed, the com. .bination with a feed drum, of means for regulatin the amount of tobacco forwarded by said rum, worm gearing driving said drum and said regulating means, picking mechanism acting on tobacco forwarded by said drum, and means independent of said gearing for driving said mechanism, said regulating means including means for pressing ya mass of tobacco against said drum, and means for sweeping excess tobacco olf said drum. I 4. In a cigarette'ma'chine feed, the combination with a feed drinn, of means for regulating thek amount of tobacco forwarded by said drum, worm gearing drivin said drum and said regulating means, picking mechanism acting on tobacco forwarded by said drum, and means independent of said gearing for driving said mechanism, said gearing including a constantly rotating shaft, worms on said shaft, and worm wheels driven by said worms and driving said drum and said regulating means.

5. In a cigarette machine feed, the combination with a feed drum, of means for' regulating the amount of tobacco forwarded by said drum, worm gearing driving said drum and saidregulating means, picking mechanism acting on tobacco forwarded by said drum, and means independent of said gearing. for driving said mechanism., said picking mechanism including a picker roll coacting with said drum, and a re-picker acting on the tobacco after it is picked from said drum.

6. In a cigarette machine feed, the combination with a feed drum, of means for regulating the amountv of tobacco forwarded by said drum, worm gearing driving said drum and said regulating means, picking mechanism acting on tobacco forwarded by said drum, and means independent of said gearing for driving said mechanism, said independent driving means including an electric motor and connections whereby said motor drives said picker mechanism.

7 In a cigarette machine feed, the combination with a feed drum, of means for regulating the amount of tobacco forwarded by said drum, worm gearing driving said drum and said regulating means, picking mechanism acting on tobacco forwarded by said drum, means independent of said gearing for driving said mechanism, and a win-4 nowing device operatin to deliver winnowed tobacco under sai drum, said picker mechanism including a picker roll coacting with said drum, and a re-picker acting on the tobacco after it has been winnowed.

8. In a cigarette machine feed, the combination with a feed drum, of a picker roll coacting with said drum, and a winnowing A its heavier parts to rebound from said wall and thereby lighter parts.

11. In a cigarette machine feed, .the combination with a wall, of means yfor throwing become separated fromv said tobacco against said wall to cause its lighter Y parts to slide down said wall and to cause its heavier parts to rebound from said wall and thereby become separated from said lighter parts, and means for collecting said heavier parts.

12. In a cigarette machine feed, the combination `with a wall, of means for Ythrowing tobacco against said Wall to cause its lighter parts to slide down said wall and to cause its heavier parts to rebound from said wall and thereby become separated from said lighter parts, means for .collecting said heavier parts, and means for removing the heavier parts from said collecting means.

13. In a cigarette machine feed, the combination with a wall, of means for throwing tobacco against said Wall to cause its lighter parts to slide down said wall and to cause its heavier parts to rebound from said wall and thereby become separated from said lighter parts, and a feed chute below and receiving said lighter parts from said Wall.

14. In a cigarette machine feed, the combination with a wall, of -means for throwing tobacco against said Wall to cause its lighter parts to slide down said wall and to cause its heavier parts to rebound from said wall and thereby become separated from said lighter parts, a feed chute below and receiving said lighter parts from said wall, and a re-picker operating in said chute.

15. In a cigarette machine feed, the combination with a wall, of means for throwing tobacco against said wall to cause its lighter parts to slide down said wall and to cause its heavier parts to reboundA from said wall and thereby become separated from said lighter parts, and a trough parallel with said wall for collecting said heavier parts.

16. In a cigarette machine feed, the combination with a wall, of means for throwing tobacco against said wall to cause its lighter parts to slide down said wall and to cause its heavier parts to rebound from said wall 

